Market Watch

Thoughts on the slow-growth equities market, FOMC rate-hike schedules, and a surprising side effect of banking regulation.

IPC Notes by S&P Capital IQ 55 Water St. New York, N.Y. 10041 March 26: Our Investment Policy Committee raised its 12-month target for the S&P 500 to 1985, representing a 7% price increase for the U.S. equity benchmark during the coming year. The allocation is unchanged. Despite the 30% jump in price for the index in 2013, and the more than 170% increase in prices since the 2009 low, stocks have not gotten ahead of fundamentals, in our view, as EPS growth has kept pace with price advances over the past five and seven years. In the coming year, we believe the S&P 500 will rise...